In a letter ruling, the Missouri Department of Revenue determined that sales of both "boil and bite" athletic mouth guards and laminate mouth guards used by dentists are taxable.

The state exempts sales of prosthetic and orthopedic devices. The state defines a prosthetic device as "a device that replaces all or part of the function of a permanently inoperative or malfunctioning internal body organ and is medically required." The state defines an orthopedic device as a specific device "directly used for the purpose of supporting a weak or deformed body member or restricting or eliminating motion in a diseased or injured part of the body."

Neither type of mouth guard falls within the definitions of orthopedic or prosthetic devices. As a result, sales of mouth guards are taxable as sales of tangible personal property.

TTR has a website that companies subscribe to and use daily. This website provides a list of everything that can be bought or sold in the U.S. It provides simple answers to whether buying or selling these items is taxable (subject to a sales tax or other tax), and it provides all the legal authority to support these tax answers.

TTR likes to keep things simple and fun, which is why it has great people who provide help to clients on any support questions they have about transaction tax issues.